


rat in the kitchen

by RuanChunXian



Series: Three Sentence Fic-a-thon [55]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, Ratatouille (2007)
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29192343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RuanChunXian/pseuds/RuanChunXian
Summary: "Anyone can cook" is more easily achieved in Narnia.
Series: Three Sentence Fic-a-thon [55]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/39713
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	rat in the kitchen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rthstewart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rthstewart/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Culinary Diplomacy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3686346) by [rthstewart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rthstewart/pseuds/rthstewart). 



> Prompt: Narnia/Ratatouille, Remy, cooking for a multi-species army  
> Also, clearly not three sentence.

When the young of Cair Paravel pushed their Minotaur Cook to retirement, Susan had expected it would be difficult to find a replacement – after all, in a country where so many of its citizens didn’t need to eat cooked food, it had been impossible the first time around to find someone both knew how to cook, _and_ understood the positive battle plan that was required in Narnian meal planning. Former Cook’s faun and dwarf assistants had taken over the cooking at first, and they were doing an adequate enough job that Susan was contemplating just having a team of cooks working in cooperation rather than one single chef in charge; after all, it was a huge responsibility, cooking for the diverse population of the Cair, and Cook’s departure proved that it was too much responsibility for one person. 

Then the fauns and dwarves began to notice little changes made to their meal preparation and the lists of supplies that were being prepared for their troops preparing to go on the road. Sometimes, little cakes and pastries would appear in the larder though no one recalled making them. As the changes were all positive and made the cooking and prepping more efficient, and the food all passed the Beasts’ inspection, it didn’t seem like whoever was making these changes had any nefarious intents, but soon the mystery of it all bothered Susan enough to set the Rats on finding out who it was. It began to become even more suspicious when her famously efficient Rats failed to locate who had been making these changes to the kitchen’s process and cooking the mystery food. It was beginning to bother Susan more than she liked to admit when Willa wondered out loud, “Maybe the reason we can’t find who it is because the one who is making these changes is also the one doing the looking.”

“What do you mean?” the Queen asked.

“It occurred to me that, though there are no paw prints to prove anything, the edits being made on the meal lists look like they were being made by a Rat or Mouse.”

“You think the reason the Rats have not found who is doing this is because the one doing it is actually a Rat?” Susan asked. “Well, this is intriguing, indeed.”

“Perhaps it is time I get on this mission myself, Queen Susan.”

To Remy’s credit, he evaded Willa’s formidable skills for another fortnight before Willa managed to gather enough evidence to confront him.

“It’s not that I’m not happy with my work with the Mischief, Queen Susan!” the young Rat said earnestly, who was curiously standing on his hind quarters, preferring to keep his front paws off the ground. “And I was perfectly happy before with just making suggestions to Cook whenever she asked us to sample her food. But then, you remember that visit from the delegation from the Seven Isles that included their chef – Gaston – “

“ – Gusteau,” Susan corrected, but she was intrigued.

“Yes, him. He said something that I haven’t been able to shake off since.”

Of course Susan remembered. Gusteau, being a quite famous chef in the known worlds, had wanted to visit the Narnian monarchs’ kitchen, and at first, Susan had been hesitant. After all, their Minotaur Cook tended to strike fear in the hardiest of warriors, and that was even before considering what other Humans usually thought of the idea of all the Rats, hair, and feathers in the kitchen. But Gusteau had been delighted to see Cook, and with Cook’s food. “Anyone can cook!” he had declared, taking the fact that this particular cook was a minotaur in strides.

It had moved Cook to tears that a celebrated chef had so loved her food. However, it was clear that Cook was not the only one so affected.

“Remy,” Susan said, making a decision, “the changes you made to the kitchen these last few weeks had been quite clever, and your food was very tasty. You seem to love cooking – “ and food, but then, he was a Rat, that was a given – “how would you like to work in the kitchen from now on?”

Remy’s eyes widened, which would be quite alarming if one was not already in familiar and constant proximity with Rats. It was clear that such a job would be a dream come true to Remy, but nevertheless, he looked towards Willa.

“It would be splendid, actually, to have a Rat actually cooking in the kitchen,” Willa said. “He knows the Rats’ taste and would season things properly.”

“Well then,” Susan declared, “it’s settled. If you do well, Remy, I might see what that you become the new Cook.”


End file.
